A conventional battery charger may be constructed and arranged in the form of a rectangular tray having one or more slots capable of accommodating and charging a plurality of batteries (e.g., AA batteries). The batteries are typically oriented to a common polarity and inserted into the slots by hand. After a predetermined charge time interval, the batteries are manually removed and used or optionally deposited into a holding bin.
In a manufacturing environment, it may be subsequently necessary to apply a representation of a calendar date to each battery, thereby identifying by the date of charge (i.e., essentially conveying the manufacture date for the battery component). The date coding process may require placement of individual batteries into a hot stamping machine, or other date coding mechanism, to apply a representation of a calendar date to the batteries.
Particularly for manufacturing environments that require high volumes of charged batteries (e.g., AA batteries) for use with battery operated products, the aforementioned charging and date coding process may be labor intensive. Moreover, the potential for introducing defects during the battery charging and date coding process may be relatively high. For example, any improperly oriented battery within a charging apparatus may result in the battery being improperly charged. Additionally, battery charge time must be carefully monitored to avoid overcharging the batteries. Finally, the date coding process must be carefully monitored to prevent the application of a date code to a battery that is uncharged; a regrettable common occurrence.
Therefore, it is unfortunate that no known battery charging apparatus is available to substantially perform the battery charging and optional coding functions in a relatively automatic fashion.